Moonlight Chicken (2023)

Heart and Liming stole the whole series for me.

This series is a rough gem. The plotline is interesting, the cast is a top notch and the way everything has been portrayed from the storylines to the individual characters themselves absolutely worth watching. It's a realistic mess with a whole lot of feelings invested. None of the characters here are flawless. They have their own flaws and their own problems to deal with. At a first glance, it might look all dreamy and heart eyes but it's more than that. It's complicated and at the same time swoon worthy.

Starting with Heart and Liming because for me they are the best part of this series. They have my heart. They are so heart warming and so healing. I am in love with their love and I love both of them so much. Their small small moments, their subtle touches, their sign language interactions and even their eye locks damnnn I live to see their scenes. In fact if comfort was a person then it would be them. They stole the whole series for me.

Moving on to Jim and Wen, hands down to the acting of Earth and Mix. Their chemistry is no joke mahn. Their story is a total opposite of Heart and Liming's story. It's filled with tension, raw desires and not to forget angst. Both of them are individuals that are in a way broken and have so much to show and say but they can't fully express it and I honestly feel them. (P.S: Earth doesn't look like a 40 year old in any way but okay I am gonna look over that.)

And about Alan. Damnn First nailed it. The complexity of the relationship between Alan and Wen. My god it's too much to handle. I can't even figure out anymore who's at fault and more so I can't see Alan cry. It breaks my heart when he is sad but then when he is being sarcastic, I can't help but roll my eyes. Gaipa too he is a cinnamon roll . He is such a sweetie. Also Leng and Praew, this two are so cute together. Not to forget Gaipa's mum, she is so supportive and so likable. And I didn't really like what they did with her in the end. Also this series did feel like highlights.. like you know it's just parts of something and there's more to see. I don't know I just felt like it could have been better, ended better. But overall I would still give it a 10. Credits to Heart and Liming.

Also, a shoutout to the ost "Tommorrow". It had me weeping when I heard it in episode 4. Ford sang it with so much innocence and emotions plus hats off to the editing team. The song blended so well with all those scenes and that doubled the impact the song had on me. The actual mv in Gmmtv records is good too.

Highly highly recommended!!

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Could Use A Few More Chickens

This was an overall well done drama that was unfortunately too short to realize its full potential. The material was great, but eight episodes wasn't long enough to fully develop some of the issues presented or to fully develop the relationships and characters. Even so, I did enjoy this drama for the most part, it has some great messages and it does tackle some tough issues with tact.

I liked the concept for the story, how a one night stand could turn into something more. The way Wen helped Jim in so many ways, not just with working at the diner, but also with helping him find closure with his past relationship and heal and move on, was well done. I admired Wen's perseverance and that while he continued to pursue Jim even when Jim had indicated he was not looking for a relationship, he did so relatively tactfully, never pushing too hard, but still making it clear that he was interested and that he thought they could work things out. However, things turned complicated, which was exactly what Jim feared, when Wen's ex-boyfriend who he was still living with, Alan, showed up and threw a wrench in things. Despite their break up, he is still possessive of Wen and hopes that they can patch things up and get back together. Wen, however, is ready to move on, and he is faced with having to do just that and more firmly sever his ties with Alan as he tries to establish a relationship with Jim. And Alan, for his part, is left trying to move on as well and come to terms with the fact that his and Wen's relationship is truly over. Meanwhile, Jim's nephew who he has raised, is a senior in high school and is still trying to figure himself out amidst the limitations of not being the scholarly type and being poor. Jim can be overbearing with him and Li Ming feels trapped and isolated until he meets Heart, a deaf young man his own age and they slowly become friends which then turns romantic. The relationship is a healing one for both as Li Ming finds someone who understands and cares for him exactly as he is and Heart finds someone who treats him as a normal person and actually puts out the effort to communicate with him. They serve as each other's escape in many ways and I loved their relationship in all its facets.

With so many BLs these days sticking to high school or college settings, it was refreshing that this one stepped outside those bounds. I think that opened up a lot more doors for it to tackle issues that it couldn't otherwise. However, because it was confined to only eight episodes and it did try to tackle multiple issues, it wasn't necessarily able to dive into them as deeply as one might have liked. The economy and cost of living were both subjects that were brought up multiple times. Leng, one of Jim's friends and employees, and his girlfriend Praew find themselves unexpectedly expecting, so unplanned pregnancy, the cost of raising a child, and even abortion are touched on, if only briefly. By creating a deaf character, the deaf community was given representation and it was done well. The various ways of parenting is also touched on, how there's not one right way to parent and parents are always learning, even from their children. Relationships serve as a major focus, examining how some relationships simply peter out after a while, unrequited love, and, particularly, moving on from past relationships and how, while it may be painful, we can hope that there's something and someone better out there for us in the future. I enjoyed every part of it, again the only detractor is that I wanted more time to explore those topics.

Probably the biggest downfall of this drama, and I know I've seen others commenting on this, is the miscasting of Earth. Earth is a damn good actor, there is no denying that, but in no way does he, as a 29 year old young man, look anywhere close to 40. I know he's a couple years older than Mix, Khaotung and First but he really doesn't look it, and in the drama, there's presumed to be something like at least a ten year age difference between their characters. Earth is one of those people who looks younger than they really are, but this seemed outside the range of probability to me. Papang, in contrast, who played Jim's former lover, Beam, is only a year older than Earth, but he looks older. I could more easily believe he was in his mid-30's. There's also looking at him next to Lookwa who plays his sister. She's a beautiful woman, don't misunderstand me, and looks fantastic at 42, but they don't look like they are close in age at all. I understand that Earth and Mix are a popular pairing, but if they wanted them paired together, it would have made more sense to change Jim's age to something closer to Earth's actual age. As it was, Jim's age was hammered home so often you couldn't forget it, and there were some scenes that were supposed to be more emotional that just didn't work as well as they might have with a more age appropriate actor.

Jim and Wen's relationship was another issue. The first episode is great. The chemistry and tension between the two is electric and then suddenly, it's just gone and while there are still flickers of it throughout the rest of the drama, it's not quite as strong as that first impression. Wen's feelings for Jim remain clear throughout the drama while Jim's feelings are much harder to decipher. There are moments where it's evident he does feel the same way, but it wasn't always consistent and their relationship felt stagnant at times. Even when things were supposed to be changing between them, I didn't always feel it.

I really enjoyed all the side characters, particularly Alan and Gaipa. Khaotung is such a good actor, I wanted more of Gaipa just so he could showcase his skills more, but also he was so sweet, I just liked his character and I wanted to get to know him a bit more. And Alan, aside from the fact that First is also a fantastic actor, was such an interesting character, I wanted to know more about him and his history with Wen. I felt like there was a lot more to unpack there.

But the highlight couple for me was Li Ming and Heart. Having just seen My School President, I enjoyed seeing them in such different roles. Li Ming is a somewhat similar character to Gun, but much heavier on the teenage angst. But it's not in a bad way. You can feel the frustration Li Ming has with his life and circumstances, and it's justified. Fourth did such a good job with bringing Li Ming to life and bringing such nuance to the character. Heart, being deaf, was a much different character for Gemini to portray. I was so impressed with his ability to emote without speaking a single word and he was utterly believable in the role. He and Fourth have such great chemistry. The build up of Li Ming's and Heart's relationship is so well done and feels very natural.

In general, the romance is not why I enjoyed this drama. Jim and Wen's romance lacked some consistency and while Li Ming and Heart were the highlight couple for me out of those present, what I actually loved about this drama was the chicken rice family that they created. The way the characters all came together for each other to take care of each other and build each other up was so heartwarming. They may not have been related by blood, but that didn't matter, they did what needed to be done even if that cost them personally. And I liked seeing how Wen was welcomed into their family, really without much question, he was just accepted. So if you take it from that angle, rather than a romantic one, it is a very wholesome story. And for me, personally, that is better than any romance.

The production was overall pretty strong. I really liked the sets, particularly the chicken rice shop was just so aesthetically pleasing to me. It made me wish I could go there and visit that place. The lighting was an issue at times. There were a number of late night conversations and sometimes the lighting was too dim and it made it harder to make out faces and expressions. However, one scene that I absolutely loved was the one of Jim and Wen at the beach at twilight. The way it was shot with their silhouettes was beautiful. I do wish they'd translated the sign language as a fair amount of it got missed. There were times when Li Ming would essentially repeat what Heart had said, but a lot of the time I was just left guessing.

This is a drama worth watching at least once. It's short so what do you have to lose? I don't as it's one that I'll come back to which is a bit disappointing because I think it could have been absolutely phenomenal with some tweaking of the story and the cast. And I think this drama really does highlight how important casting truly is. I don't think the miscasting of Earth broke the drama, but it did affect it and its ability to pack an emotional punch. I hope in the future they focus more on delivering a solid story with an appropriate cast than keeping particular pairings together.

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